TV On Remand: Homeland And Twitter On Telly

TV On Remand: Great Danes Is Best In Show

While Mad Men and Game Of Thrones give the critics nerdgasms, Homeland has been quietly getting on with the business of becoming one of the best dramas on the box - but next Sunday, sadly, sees the series climax.

Last night’s penultimate episode ratcheted up the tension beautifully. Claire Danes’ goggle-eyed, garbling, green pen-obsessed performance as obsessive CIA spook Carrie Mathison in a manic bipolar phase showed why she won a Golden Globe – she chewed up the scenery and almost climbed out of the screen. Damian Lewis was more subtle but no less impressive as Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, doing all his acting with his eyes, cat’s bum mouth and flexy facial muscles, as he has all series. Mandy Patinkin as bushy-bearded Saul, who eats peanut butter from the jar with a wooden ruler, was quietly compelling.

Carrie’s wall of evidence, however, gave me unpleasant flashbacks to Joseph Fiennes’ frustrating preposto-drama Flash Forward. She should’ve posted it on Pinterest, then it wouldn’t matter that Emile Heskey’s henchmen ripped it down. Still, her colour-coded moodboard looks like it could provide the key to the whole pesky terrorist plot.

The finale is a feature-length episode that ties up lots of loose ends, while leaving others dangling for series two – which starts shooting this summer. I won’t say much more in case I let slip a spoiler. And four days after Homeland finishes, Sky Arts are showing Prisoners Of War (Hatufim) – the brilliant Israeil series upon which it’s based. Should help cushion the blow

In the meantime, will Brody detonate his lovingly tailored gilet bomb? Will renegade sniper Walker pull the trigger and whose forehead will his little red laser dot dance across? Or will Carrie, Saul, Jack Bauer and Harry Pearce from Spooks arrive just in time to save the free world? Let’s reconvene here next week to discuss.

Getting right on my TwitsHere’s a TV trend that needs to be nipped in the bud: reading out Tweets on the air. BBC Three’s announcers do it between programmes. The Voice was doing it this weekend during their first live show. It’s a weedy attempt to appear modern and “with it”, but hearing that “@essexgirl14” thinks “Danny from The Script is well fit lol” detracts rather than adds to the viewing experience. If the audience gave a FF (and I don’t mean Follow Friday), they’d already be on social networks. The rest don’t care. Please RT.

This season's must-have BaggsThis Wednesday’s task on The Apprentice is the “flogging wholesale old tut” one, which gives Lord Al Of Sugarshire the chance to say “smellin’ what’s sellin’” about a billion times. It’s also presumably one reason he didn’t fire Adam Corbally after last week’s meatballs shambles. The albino Iain Dowie lookalike with a voice like a Creature Comforts cow has emerged as this year’s most annoying contest - but he’s a market trader, so should know what he’s doing this week. Wonder if they’ll keep the squidgy-faced wally all the way to the interview round, a la Baggs The Brand?